Notes

Other 2014 shows

THE VISITORS - Abba (1982)
PALOMA BLANCA FOX ON THE RUN - Klaus Wunderlich And His New Pop Organ Sound (1975)
WHOLE LOTTA LOVE - The Wonder Band (1979)
THE KILLING MOON - Echo And The Bunnymen ***WLIR's Screamer Of The Week, February 10, 1984***
EROTIC BEATS - Prince (uncredited)
THE THUNDERBOLT - Lady Flash (1976)
(FEELS LIKE) HEAVEN - Fiction Factory ***WLIR's Screamer Of The Week, February 17, 1984***
NAKED ILLUSIONS - Nitro Brothers (1984)
LET'S GET INVOLVED - Liz Taylor (1984)
EINZELGANGER - Einzelganger [Giorgio Moroder] (1975)
I'M POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN - Wing And A Prayer Fife And Drum Corps (1977)
WILD ONE - Polysics (2005)
THE GAP - Thompson Twins ***WLIR's Screamer Of The Week, February 24, 1984***
CHARLIE HUSTLE - Pamela Neal (1979)
YOU CAN DO IT - Al Hudson And The Partners (1979)
GENERAL PUBLIC - General Public - ***WLIR's Screamer Of The Week, March 2, 1984***
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Liner notes to this week's show, thanks to CFTP listener Tony D:

1. ABBA released "The Visitors" LP in late 1981. It has a definite "Cold War-era" theme, and was released amid growing tensions within the band. It does hold a couple of rare distinctions, though. "The Visitors" was one of the first records to be recorded and mixed digitally. And although there are disagreements regarding this, it has been stated that "The Visitors" was the very first album to be pressed on the new CD format in 1982 (Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." was the first CD produced in America). It was ABBA's eighth and final album, before splitting up for good.

2. THE WONDER BAND was the studio creation of three producers, Armando Noriega, Israel Sanchez, and Silvio Tancredi. The reason that there is a Led Zeppelin connection might be the fact that Silvio was once an intern at Swan Song Records, Led Zeppelin's label. Silvio went on to form Northcott Productions, Ltd., a powerhouse dance and house music production company and distributor. There were many other disco acts who tried to jump on the rock bandwagon. An album by the group Jebadiah (a Michael Zager project) featured all Rolling Stones covers done in a disco style. Hot Ice's "Stone Disco" also mined this same territory. The group, Rosebud, assembled by film composer Gabriel Yared, even did an album of Pink Floyd disco covers!

3. LADY FLASH was probably most famous for their Top 40 hit, "Street Singin'", but they got their start as Barry Manilow's backup singers. The group was made up of "Reparata" Mazzola (formerly with Reparata & The Delrons), Monica Pege, and Debra Byrd. Debra Byrd may be more well-known for her long-running stint as the vocal coach on the FOX reality series, "American Idol". (She was also Barry's duet partner on the single, "Let Me Be Your Wings"...) And although there is a DC comic character of the same name, the group actually titled themselves after an early Barry Manilow song, "Flashy Lady", off of his first album!

4. LIZ TAYLOR was not the famous screen actress, but a Detroit soul singer. What sets her single, "Let's Get Involved", apart is the man behind it. The producer of the single (and owner and founder of Rock Mill Records) is a man by the name of Melvin Davis. Melvin has been a soul fixture and a musical ambassador of sorts in Detroit for years, although mostly on the underground circuit. In Northern Soul circles, though, he is revered. One of his most treasured singles, "Find A Quiet Place (And Be Lonely)" is also one of his rarest. Other singles he has appeared on include "Chains Of Love" (also recorded by J.J. Barnes), 'River Rouge" (with The Lyman Woodard Trio), and the national R&B hit, "You've got to crawl (before you can walk)" by the group, 8th Day, where he was the lead singer. To this day, Melvin still performs in and around Detroit, and around the world.

5. EINZELGÄNGER actually means "lone wolf" in German, so it might be apropos for a composer like GIORGIO MORODER, who created a very unique individual sound in the 70's. His productions range from songs by Donna Summer and David Bowie to works by Blondie and Sparks. More recently, he told his story in a song titled "Giorgio By Moroder" off of Daft Punk's Grammy-winning LP, "Random Access Memories".

6. A WING & A PRAYER FIFE AND DRUM CORPS was a group of studio musicians put together by a man named Harold Wheeler. Who is Harold Wheeler, you might say? Well...for the first 17 seasons of "Dancing With The Stars", he was the reality competition's musical director and bandleader. Back in the 60's, he was Burt Bacharach's musical director and the conductor for the 76th Annual Academy Awards, making him only the second African -American conductor in the Academy's long storied history. You will also find him credited on a little-known single (except to fans of CFTP!) called "Funky Mozart" by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie! Regarding the Fife and Drum Corps, though, the vocalists on that group's singles were four ladies: Vivian Cherry, Arlene Martell, Helen Miles, and Linda November. One of those ladies, Linda November, may be more well-known than you think. In the early 70's, she and Toni Wine (Toni wrote "Groovy Kind Of Love") provided the original vocals on Tony Orlando & Dawn's hits "Candida" and "Knock Three Times". The versions that you hear on the albums feature the voices of Linda and Toni, but when it came time to go out on tour, Tony recruited Joyce Vincent and Telma Hopkins to go out on tour with him as the new "Dawn". A few years later, Linda was back on the charts again with A Wing & A Prayer Fife And Drum Corps, when their disco cover of the old standard, "Baby Face" reached #14 on the U.S. charts. Their cover of "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man" came from their third album, "Babyface Strikes Back" in 1977. Since then, Linda has also sung on countless TV and radio jingles. You can hear her voice on the "Meow Mix" theme from 1976 ("Meow meow meow meow ... "). She also sang the "Galaxy Glue" theme in the film, "The Incredible Shrinking Woman".

7. PAMELA NEAL'S "Charlie Hustle" was a disco tune actually written about baseball great Pete Rose (Remember him?) during his playing days with the Cincinnati Reds, back when he gambled on hitting all the bases, and nothing else. Pamela was primarily a Vegas performer, but she was known in the music industry, penning "Hot Love" for Charo's "Ole Ole" album."Charlie Hustle" was featured on a picture disc, featuring Neal's photo on the flip side, swinging a bat in hot pants. The B-side of that single, "Magic Again", has enough cowbell to give "Don't Fear The Reaper" and Christopher Walken a run for their money!

8. AL HUDSON & THE SOUL PARTNERS' "You Can Do It" was an R&B hit on the ABC label in 1979. After ABC was bought out by MCA in 1980, they became One Way featuring Al Hudson. One of the original "Soul Partners" was a woman by the name of Alicia Myers. Alicia left the group, before they had R&B hits like "Music", "Mr. Groove", "Cutie Pie" and "Lady You Are" (Candyce Edwards replaced her in the group). But, Alicia went on to have a few hits and highlights of her own, most notably, the funky-as-all-get-out "I Want To Thank You", "Appreciation", and "You Get The Best Of Me" (all favorites of mine!).